Christmas is coming!

It's that time of year again when the lights and trees are up and suddenly everyone loves everyone else. I have always been a big fan of Christmas. Despite not really growing up with a lot of money, my parents always managed to provide a good Christmas for us and it was a joy to get up really early and sneak downstairs and stare at the living room full of gifts. It's not really as much fun now as it was then since I usually know what's under the tree. It takes a lot of the anticipation away when you pretty much already know what you are unwrapping. It's kind of a double edged sword though because if I don't ask for what I specifically would like, then I end up with some really strange random things sometimes! But I really think my favorite part of Christmas is the beauty of the season. I love how beautiful houses look when they are all decorated. I love how amazing the church looks when all the greens and lights have been hung up. I especially love Christmas music. I also love to give presents and try to find the perfect thing that the specific person would love. Unfortunately I have resorted to gift cards over the past few years because some people are so hard to buy for.

This year Christmas will be busy as usual. We have already celebrated Christmas with Steve's dad as he was only coming back for Thanksgiving and not around Christmas. We will be going to my mom's this Saturday afternoon, and then my dad's on Saturday evening. Then on Sunday we will go to Steve's aunt and uncle's house for a get-together and ornament exchange. Then Christmas day we will go to Steve's mom's for lunch and then to my step-family's the day after Christmas. Unfortunately we do have to miss Christmas with my paternal grandparents since it is at the same times as my mom's. But I made sure to go there for Thanksgiving since I had a feeling that the Christmases would conflict. I am learning that you can't make people happy all the time, and not usually even most of the time. So we try to get where we can and not feel stressed over it. Feeling stressed over Christmas kinda defeats the purpose in my mind. I do feel sad about having to miss two Saturday night church services in a row but I suppose sacrifices must be made. And since I am always the child who has to bend then my stuff gets missed. But it keeps the peace so I guess it is worth it in the end.